


Not a Mind Reader

by NotYourGoat



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst but only a little bit, Everyone Is Alive, F/M, Fluff, Hurt Loki (Marvel), Loki & Tony Stark Friendship, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Loki (Marvel) Redemption, Loki is tired, OC is bi, Protective Tony Stark, Slow Burn, Tags May Change, Tony Stark Is Not Helping, all i know is i have an oc and i want to write her, at least that's the plan but we'll see how it goes my friends, author is a dumbass, i have no idea where im going w this story, loki needs a fucking nap, oc has amnesia, oc has telepathy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-06-15 22:49:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15423369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotYourGoat/pseuds/NotYourGoat
Summary: Loki went to the Avengers compound in search of Thor, but he's not there. Instead he meets a chick with telepathy. Summaries are hard.





	1. Tired

**Author's Note:**

> We’re gonna say that Thor had aimed for Thanos’s neck with Stormbreaker in IW, Shuri and the Wakanda folks had managed to fix/save Vision, Loki had faked his death aboard the Statesman.

    He was tired. He was just…so tired. Tired of being on the run. Tired of being alone. Tired of faking his death. Tired of disappointing his brother, with whom he was tired of having an unhealthy relationship.  
  
    Loki knew he wouldn’t exactly be welcomed with open arms on Earth, certainly not after he’d tried to take it over a few years ago. He was well aware that the Avengers had beef with him, but where else was he to go? Asgard was gone. He’d run out of favor with the Grandmaster on Sakaar, which was on the other side of the universe anyway.  
  
    Why did he take that stupid glowing blue cube? Why couldn’t he just leave it on Asgard where it might’ve been destroyed? If he’d done that then Thanos never would’ve come along and ruined this good thing he had going, where he was finally on good terms with Thor, they’d saved their entire race, they were on their way to Earth to rebuild…  
  
Sure, if he’d left it there, maybe that purple menace would have found it sooner…and they never would have known until he came to Earth for the Mind and Time Stones…and Thor never would have had the forsight (let alone the time) to travel to Nidavellir to forge Stormbreaker, the fabled axe that the God of Thunder had sunk into the Mad Titan’s jugular vein…and perhaps there would have been even more bloodshed and loss…damn.  
  
Maybe he didn’t regret it.  
  
Still, though. It was his fault that Thanos killed all that remained of Asgard. It was his own fault that he had to fake his own death, make his brother watch him die. Again.  
Loki had been laying low on a planet called Contraxia. That place was just weird enough that he was comfortable and able to have fun without drawing attention to himself, at least for a little while. He grew weary of the place before too long, but he stayed because it was a good place to hide out. It was loaded with low-lifes—ravagers, many of them called themselves—and these freaky yellow robot prostitutes…he hadn’t liked those so much. They were weird. He had once rented one to entertain himself for the evening but he found it to be less than satisfying; he would have much preferred to seduce a real woman. Love bots were not good conversationalists. That, and there’s no fun in it if it’s just a robot programmed to comply to anything he asked.      
  
When news spread of the Mad Titan’s death at the hands of the God of Thunder on the little blue planet that normally kept to itself, Loki was ecstatic. That meant his brother had survived the explosion and he was on Earth, safe and sound, and Loki could go there and reconnect with him.  
  
Loki wasn’t entirely sure how to go about initiating contact with the Avengers. It was early morning. He figured his best option might be to just walk up to the front door of their compound and knock. What else could he even do? That would be the most civil approach.  
  
He was, at this point, walking down the driveway of the Avengers compound, going over what he was gonna say in his head. Best case scenario, Thor answers, and they have a happy reunion. Worst case scenario, it was Stark that opened the door, or Barton, and the whole team attacked.  
  
But…surely once he explained that when he attacked New York he had been under the malicious influence of the Mind Stone as well as threat of a torturous death at the hands of Thanos, they would understand, right? And when he’d explain that he’d saved more lives evacuating Asgard than he’d taken on Earth, they’d let him stay, right? And Dr. Banner—he could certainly vouch for Loki, that he was a changed man…right?  
  
Before he had even made it to the door, two iron-suited men touched ground on either side of him, blasters up. He recognized one of them as Tony Stark’s Iron Man, the other he hadn’t yet been acquainted with. A red-skinned man in a tight green skin suit and a yellow cape emerged from the ground behind him. Out of the door in front of him came the Man out of Time himself, Captain America, in civilian clothing yet brandishing his famous shield, as well as a new beard. Next to him stood a brunette-haired girl whose hands were glowing red.  
  
Loki’s hands were in the air, to show he was not here to fight.  
  
“Hello, everyone,” he said with a chuckle. “Been a while.”  
  
“Can it with the nicey-nice, Rock of Ages,” Stark said, “Why are you here?”  
  
“How are you here?” the Captain asked. “Thor said you were dead. Thanos killed you.”  
  
“Not quite, I’m afraid,” the Norse god said. “I mean you no harm. I am simply looking for my brother. Is he around?”  
  
“What do you need to see Thor about?”  
  
“I just wanted to see my brother,” Loki cracked another smile, “is that so criminal of me?” The heroes were silent for a moment. The smirk fell from Loki’s face as he considered his options before speaking again, deciding it best to tell the full truth. “Look, I just wanted to let him know that I am alive and well, and I wanted to…apologize to him, I suppose, for…well, for a number of things, in truth.” He lowered his hands. “Listen, I can’t imagine it’s the case that he does not wish to see me; We had finally been on good terms with one another when the Mad Titan attacked our ship and slaughtered what remained of Asgard—just after my brother and I had saved our people from extinction, I might add. I am assuming, since he hadn’t emerged as part of your little welcome party, that he is not present at the moment, so if you would kindly just tell me where my brother has run off to, I would gladly be on my way, no harm, no foul.”  
  
“Yeah, uh, no,” Tony said. “If you think we’re gonna just send an alien terrorist off on his merry way, you’ve got another thing coming.”  
  
“I understand your distrust, Mr. Stark, but I assure you, I am a changed man.”  
  
“If I may,” the red-skinned man spoke up, “I’d like to suggest a compromise.”  
  
Loki turned around to face the stranger.  
  
“I don’t believe we’ve met,” the Norse god said, smiling, extending his hand and taking a step toward the Vision, “I am Loki, Prince of—“  
  
“I know who you are.”  
  
Loki put both his hands up and backed his way into the center of the circle again. At that point Loki’s attention was drawn to the stone resting in this stranger’s forehead. It seemed familiar.  
  
“His words seem genuine,” the Vision said, now speaking to his comrades. “Thor and Dr. Banner told us of the lives this man saved on Asgard, and of his last attempt at Thanos’s life, but that does not change what happened in New York. I suggest we take Loki as a prisoner here, and allow Thor to decide what is to be done with his miscreant brother upon his return.”  
  
“Brilliant!” Loki said, “That works for me! What say you, Captain Rogers?”  
  
____________________  
  
Loki’s room had cream-colored walls and a hardwood floor. It was furnished with a double bed, a nightstand on either side, a chest of drawers, a small desk with a chair and a lamp, a television, and a bookshelf. There was also an en suite bathroom with a toilet, sink, and a shower.  
  
He was lying on the bed, enjoying finally having a comfortable place to sleep when the door to his room slid open. A young woman stepped inside and the door quickly slid shut behind her, causing her to jump, and she let out a little startled squeak.  
  
She was a redhead, her long hair in a braid that draped over her left shoulder. Her bangs fell slightly covering front of her right eye, which was a very pale gray contrasting with her left eye, which was a bright blue color. A few freckles dotted her face. She wore a red flannel shirt, sleeves rolled up to her elbows, front open to reveal a light gray tank top. She had on denim shorts, and black socks that went about halfway up her calves. She also had on a black beanie hat.  
  
“Um…hi,” the girl said.  
  
Loki sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed.  
  
“Hello,” he said. _Is she one of them? An avenger?_  
  
“I—I’m here to speak to you,” she said sheepishly. “You—I—um…wh…who are you and um…why are you here?”  
  
_I thought everyone here would’ve known who I am by now, but maybe it’s good she doesn’t seem to be aware of what I’ve done. She lacks her comrades’ confidence. She must be new at this._ Her cheeks turned red and she started fumbling with her braid.  
  
“I am Loki of Asgard,” _Prince of Asgard, Son of Odin, rightful King of Jotunheim, God of Mischief, but if she doesn’t already know who I am I ought to leave that bit out,_ “and it is the same as I have already said to your comrades. I wish to see my brother. I owe him an apology.” _For faking my death, again, making him watch me die, again, and inadvertently bringing about the destruction of our people by not leaving that god-forsaken cube where it was._  
  
Her eyes widened and she looked at the ground.  
  
“O—oh…ok…um…. Are you—“  
  
“Who are you?” _She asked for my name but she hasn’t yet told me her own yet. Curious._  
  
“…um…I work with Mr. Stark.”  
  
“Doing what, exactly?” _What’s your gimmick, girl_?  
  
“That’s…not important.”  
  
_They don’t want me to know._ “Fair enough.” _That’s valid, I suppose, given my history, particularly what I did in New York._  
  
“So um…you’re here to see your brother?”  
  
“That’s correct.” _I’m hungry. That’s not important._  
  
“Who—um…who is your brother?”  
  
This confused the god. _How does—who is this? How little does she know?_ He raised an eyebrow.  
  
“He is Thor, one of the Avengers.” _She works for Tony Stark yet she knows not of Thor? The God of Thunder, one of Earth’s supposed Mightiest Heroes?_ “I had been under the impression that I’d find him here, but it seems I was mistaken.”  
  
“Um…fair enough…I guess…”  
  
“Have you a name?”  
  
“I—ah—it’s not important.”  
  
_She is a strange one._ “I see.” _I wonder exactly what_ is _important?_  
  
“Um…are you…d—do you have any sort of an, um…like a hidden agenda?”  
  
_Only to gain the trust of my former enemies and secure for myself a place to stay, as with each day that passes I grow more and more weary of traveling and hiding and keeping myself hidden within the shadows, although I know that that I will never succeed, because they hate me, reasonably so, considering my actions a few years ago, and will likely never trust me no matter what Thor or Bruce tell them, no matter what this girl reports back, no matter what I do to try to redeem myself._ “No. No hidden agenda. No secret evil plan. I just want to speak to my brother.” _I owe him an apology. I truly have no ill intentions. Not that any of them will believe that; they think me a monster. Maybe they’re right._  
  
“Ok…um…what do you need to speak to him about?”  
  
“It’s as I said. I owe him an apology.” _Has she forgotten?_  
  
“Right…and…after that. What are you gonna do?”  
  
“I do not yet know. I am…figuring things out as I go.” _Usually I have a plan but…this time I’m winging it, I suppose. I have no idea what I’m doing, in truth. I feel lost. She doesn’t need to know that. But if I admit that I’m figuring it out as I go maybe they’ll be more inclined to trust me._  
  
“Ok…Do you...um…have any…friends?  
  
_What kind of question is that?_ He furrowed his eyebrows. _I’m not answering that. I don’t have any friends. Mother is dead. The Warriors Three, dead. I banished Sif from Asgard and haven’t seen her in years, could be dead by now for all I know. Heimdall, dead. I trusted nobody on Sakaar or Contraxia. Thor is really all I have left and he thinks I’m dead._  
  
“Right…ok…bad question…um…so…you’re not here to…do anything, like, bad?”  
  
“No. What reason would I have, at this point, to…do something bad, as you say?” _She doesn’t trust me. They won’t trust me. Nobody will trust me. They think I’m here to bring more war and blood, death and destruction…I wasn’t me when I did that. It was the Mind Stone. And threat from Thanos. But they’ll never understand that._  
  
“…Right…ok. Um. I…think I’m gonna go now. Ah…” She turned around to face the door again. _What a strange girl._ “Ah...F—Friday?”  
The door opened; she glanced over her shoulder at Loki as she stepped through the door and it slid shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've never posted fic anywhere before so be gentle bby it's my first tiem  
> also chapter length is probably gonna vary a decent amount. i'm gonna try my best to keep it consistent but ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ u know how it goes


	2. Let me explain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry but loki isn't actually in this one, but this one's important for plot, I promise. And it’s kinda short. It was originally part of another chapter but then it was WAY long so I split that shit up. It kinda made sense, i promise. But after this one the chapters get a little bit longer and better, I promise. even tho i don't owe y'all SHIT whatever my lovelies enjoy

“What’s the 411, Kiddo?” Tony Stark took a sip of his coffee and sat down in an armchair, putting his feet up on the coffee table.

“Um…well he’s not hostile.” The redhead said, sitting on a couch adjacent from Mr. Stark.

“I’m sorry?” _Bullshit._

“Yeah, he, um…he has no friends, or family, except his brother, and he thinks nobody will ever trust him. He’s tired of living in hiding, and he wants a place to stay; ideally here but he thinks we’d never—err, you’d never—let him stay here. He just wants to apologize to his brother. He seems pretty lost and broken, if you asked me.”

 _I did ask you, and I don’t like your answer._ “Ok but…what’s his plan? He’s gotta have a trick up his sleeve, so what’s his play?” _There’s no way that greasy bastard isn’t hiding something._

“He doesn’t have one. He’s a changed man, I guess. What did he do that you felt you need to lock him up? He had thought something about New York…what did he do there?”

 _Loaded question, Kiddo._ The billionaire let out an exasperated sigh. _I hate thinking about this._ “His name is Loki. He tried to take over the Earth a few years ago.” _He also threw me out a window._ “He killed a lot of people. He had opened up a portal into space above New York City and released an alien army that attacked the city, destroyed buildings, caused millions of dollars of damage, and attacked innocent people.” _He’s actually the threat that the Avengers first assembled to fight._

She fidgeted with her hands in her lap. “Oh...oh wow. Ok. Um…he had thought something about having been under the influence of some kind of a stone? And also some guy was threatening him real bad to do that…I…don’t think the man I spoke to in there would have done something like that all of his own accord.”

“Scooch over.” Tony moved to sit next to the red-headed girl. “Do you want to see?” He held his hand out. _I hope I don’t have an anxiety attack. Oof._

She took his hand and closed her eyes.

_She saw Loki in front of her. He reached out, grabbed her by the neck, lifting her up off of the ground. Cold, piercing blue eyes staring into hers, full of malice and hunger. Slightest twinge of fear in them, too._

_“Jarvis—deploy—DEPLOY!”_

_Thrown out the window. Falling. Towards the ground. Terror. Until an Iron Man suit caught her._

_Then, she was fighting. Fighting aliens. Scary grey aliens the size of large men with blasters, flying around on the backs of slightly different scary gray aliens also the size of large men, but on a chariot-like vehicle. In the distance, riding one of those flying chariots, Loki sat, a large scepter in hand. That same hateful, ice blue gaze piercing into her soul, even at that distance._

_Large, fish-like creatures flew through the air, smashing into buildings. A red beam shot from the Iron Man suit at the flying creature._

_“Sir, we will lose power before penetrating that shell.”_

_“Yeah, I got that.”_

_A moment later she was flying through the air, carrying a missile. Utterly terrified. Up through the wormhole._

_“Sir, shall I try for Miss Potts?”_

_“May as well.” But no answer. Connection lost._

_Throwing the nuke at an alien spaceship, then once more the sensation of falling._

_Next, she was in a tower. Surrounded by allies; a clean-shaven Captain Rogers and a red-headed Agent Romanoff among them. Loki lay on the ground, battered and bruised. He sat up slowly. A man pointed his bow and arrow at him._

_“If it’s all the same to you…I’ll have that drink now.”_

_Except, this time, the malice was gone. The hatred, gone. His eyes were emerald green. Still not exactly warm, per say—but not nearly as cold as they had been._

_In a moment she was at a table eating shawarma in a half-destroyed shop, surrounded by the same allies as before._

She opened her eyes.

“That’s not the same man.”

 _Don’t make me do that again._ “What, are you blind? That was Loki. Loki caused all of that. He’s the guy.” He stood up, moved back to his armchair.

“No, I mean—yes, literally, that is him, but that’s not who he is anymore. And for what it’s worth only my right eye is blind. But, the man in your memory was…cold. Angry. Full of hate.”

“Uh, yeah, that’s Loki for you.” He sipped his coffee.

“But…the man I spoke to a few minutes ago…he wasn’t like that. He was lonely. Sad. Very…tired. OH, uh, I forgot, he was also hungry, is anyone gonna bring him any food? I haven’t had breakfast yet, either, I could make some extra and bring it to him.” She stood up, went over to the kitchenette that existed off the side of the common room where they were, searching for a frying pan.

“Listen, Kid…Loki is dangerous. I don’t trust him. I don’t think you should go back in there, he could hurt you or something.”

“I told you, he’s not here to hurt anybody.” She cracked four eggs into a bowl, mixed them up into a yellowish goo.

“Yeah he says that, but—“

“Mr. Stark, with all due respect,” she spoke a little louder than usual for a second, before quickly retreating back to her normal soft-spoken, timid tone of voice. “You…speak highly of my ability…and you frequently think about how convenient and how useful it is, what a powerful asset it could be, for interrogations and the like…for these _exact_ situations…and when we finally get to use it, I finally get to do something important, to help out, you stop trusting me? That’s—I mean…it’s kind of whack.” She poured the eggs into the frying pan, began stirring them around with a nylon spatula.

 _You weren’t there to see first hand everything he did, jesus, kid,_ “It’s just—you don’t know what he’s capable of. He can be very manipulative. I don’t want you to get hurt! You’re not a combatant. He could kill you so, so easily, kid, what if he attacks you?”

“Well I’m about to bring him a plate of food…would you attack someone who was bringing you food?”

 _No…but that’s not the point._ He only sighed.

“That’s right, you wouldn’t.” She pulled two plates out of a cabinet, dividing the scrambled eggs evenly between them.

"Listen, kid, I still don’t think you understand what kind of people you’ve gotten yourself mixed into by coming here.”

“Well where else was I supposed to go? I woke up like a week ago on a park bench with no memory, like—at all, no wallet, no money no phone, I don’t even know my own name, but suddenly I can hear what people around me are thinking, all the time, and I can’t even turn it off? That’s…freaky.” She placed 4 frozen sausage links into the frying pan and they sizzled. “That counts me as an enhanced, yeah? So…it only made sense to go find the Avengers.” She moved the sausages around in the pan with the spatula so they would brown evenly. “Mr. Stark, I understand your concern. I get that you don’t trust Loki, and that’s fine. I probably wouldn’t either, if I couldn’t hear what he’s thinking. But…he’s gotta eat. If we’re gonna be keeping him captive here, we’re obligated to feed him. So I’m gonna bring him food. Someone’s got to…Why not me?” She places 2 sausage links on each plate, grabbed two forks from a drawer. “I’ll be the one to bring him his breakfast and dinner each day, and I’ll sit and eat with him. That way, if he does decide to plot something, we’ll know right away. How does that sound?” She grabbed 2 water bottle from the fridge and shoved them under her arms, and picked up a plate of food in each hand.

 _It makes sense. It’s a good plan. In theory, I like it._ “I still don’t like it.”

“Liar.” She left the room.


	3. Bland eggs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s still the same day within the story, I’m so sorry. This one was fun to write, though. Had trouble thinking of a title, though, and I’m starting to regret doing titles for my chapters at all, but whatever.

Loki heard a knock at his door, and then it slid open. It was that girl again, this time holding two plates of food.

“Hi. Um. It’s me again.”

 _That smells good. Two plates. Is one for me?_ “Greetings.”

“Um…here,” she handed a plate to him where he was sitting on the edge of his bed, followed by the bottle of water. She sat down at the little desk, but turned the chair around to face Loki so her good eye was towards him, holding her own plate of food in her lap.

“Thank you.” _What is this gross yellow slop...?_ He sniffed it. _It could be laced with something. I won’t eat until she does._

“Scrambled eggs and sausage links. I made it myself. Well…the eggs, I cooked, but the sausage came frozen in a box and I heated them up.”

She took a bite of egg. Loki did the same. She took a bite of sausage. Loki did the same. They ate and talked.

 _They wouldn’t let her in here with me unless she had some sort of ability. These eggs are bland. That’s not important. She seems timid but she must be vicious in a fight if they trust her to enter a room with me alone._ “Are you to be my warden during my stay here at the lovely Avengers compound?”

“I’m just the one who’s gonna be bringing you meals. Breakfast each morning, dinner in the evening.”

“I see. And will you be joining me for every meal?” _I don’t need a baby sitter and I’m certain they must be watching me constantly from another room._

“Yeah…probably. I mean, that’s the plan…”

“I see.” _I suppose I shouldn’t complain that in a building full of mortals who hate me, it’s the fair-faced young maiden who so far doesn’t seem to harbor any disdain towards me that will be bringing me my meals each day._

“Can I ask you something?”

“I suppose you’re going to anyway.”

“Oh…well, I’ll leave it go then.” She really wanted him to trust her, and it sounded like he didn’t feel much like talking, so she decided she wouldn’t pry.

 _‘I’ll leave it go?’ What game is she playing?_ “Ask the bloody question.”

“Um…Mr. Stark told me about what happened in New York. I want to know…why did you do that?”

About a million things ran through Loki’s head in that instant, and the girl heard them all. Anger. Betrayal. Fear. Revenge. His answers weren’t formed into words within his mind, there were too many layers at once, broken up, he thought multiple things at once.

“I…I was threatened. I was under the influence of the Mind Stone. Terrible little thing. It was housed within a scepter that had been given to me. When one spends too much time near the Mind Stone, it…changes them. It fills them with a malice. Anger. Truly, I was mad.”

“So...you didn’t know what you were doing?”

“Not the case at all, my dear, I knew exactly what I was doing. However I was not in the proper state of mind.” He paused. “I…thought I was seeing more clearly than ever before but I was wrong. And…Thanos. The Mad Titan. He had—“ _tortured me_ “—threatened me, with a death most painful, if I failed to bring him the Tessaract. It…just seemed the best option for me at the time, in terms of self-preservation.” _I had also felt betrayed by my brother…Earth and its Midgardian fools changed him and I hated who it had turned him into._ “Really, it was…a mistake. I was with a bad crowd, I suppose.” _I was freed of the Stone’s influence when Hulk smashed me around, but that was embarrassing. She doesn’t need to know that._

That explained the different look in his eyes at the end of Mr. Stark’s memory.

 _I wonder what her gimmick is._ “It’s my turn to ask you a question.”

“Ok…shoot.”

“What can you do?”

She lowered her fork. She hadn’t expected him to be so frank about it.

“Um…what do you mean?” She knew exactly what he meant, though.

“The Iron Fool trusts you to be alone in the same room as me, despite the fact that he likely expects that I plan something malicious, which leads me to believe you to be a worthy adversary in combat. Yet you seem relatively timid. You have a non-confrontational air about you. Surely, however, you must have some sort of capability that Stark feels gives you the upper hand against me. So…what is it, exactly, that you can do?”

She took another bite of food and considered her options. She may as well be frank, at least about as much as she was able to be frank about.

“Um…I’m not at liberty to say.”

The god raised an eyebrow. _Of course she’s not._

She continued, “M—Mr. Stark doesn’t want anyone else to know about what I can do. Ah—as it stands, he and Dr. Banner are the only ones in the compound who know about my…ah…ability. We’re keeping it under wraps until we know more about…how it works and where I got it from. Everyone else just thinks I’m a random lab intern that Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner hired. They don’t even know I _have_ any sort of an ability…so it’s not just you.”

“So why admit it to me?” He took his last bite of food. _The eggs needed seasoning but the sausage was good._

“Well—because I want to help you. I…can understand you, I guess, in a way I get a feeling that the others probably won’t be able to…y’know, given the history they have with you. That, and you figured it out anyway, so I had no reason to hide it. I, ah…” Mr. Stark probably wouldn’t want her to tell him this, but she figured it was a logical next step in reaching out to him. “I have amnesia. I can’t remember anything from before about a week ago. So, that’s why I didn’t know who you were, or what you’d done, and why I didn’t have any preconceived notions about you.”

“Is that why you couldn’t tell me your name? Do you not remember it?”

“Yes! Exactly that.”

“Well why haven’t you picked a new one yet? Doesn’t seem that hard. If anything, it’s a blessing; you can be called however you want." W _hatever mistakes you made in your past life don’t matter anymore. You’ve got a clean slate to work with. Your life can take whatever path you’d like to take, regardless of what happened before. To be quite frank…I’m a tad jealous._

“I…well I’ve tried a few. But—none of them were quite…me.”

“I see. What have people been calling you?”

“Mr. Stark refers to me as Kid, or sometimes Kiddo. Not as like, my name, but as more of a generic show of platonic affection from an older person to someone younger…I guess…and Dr. Banner just tries to avoid having to refer to me directly. I mean when he needs to he calls me junk like Pal or Bud.”

“I see.” _None of those suit her, in my opinion._

“Mhm. So…what’ll you call me?”

“I suppose I’ll try to avoid it until you’ve come up with a name for yourself.” _I’d still like to know what sort of ability she possesses. I don’t wish to start a conflict but I’d like some indication of what she’s capable of. I wonder what she’d do if I threw this plate at her head._

“Oh, um…” Please don’t throw a plate at my head, please don’t throw a plate at my— “I guess that wo—“ He threw the fucking plate at her head like a frisbee. It hit her in the forehead, just above her left eye, which was her good eye. The heavy glass plate hit the hardwood floor and smashed. A dull but heavy pain shot through the girl’s head. “OW owowow—“ She sniffled, covering her head with her hands where the plate had hit her. Loki was supremely confused.

“Oh—um.” _Why didn’t she dodge it? Deflect it? Maybe she’s of enhanced durability?_ “Sorry, I—“ The girl sniffled again, and he could see tears from her gray eye, she was clearly crying. _Oh, gods, she’s crying, clearly not durable, they’ll never trust me now, SHIT._ He stood up, beginning to panic just a smidge that he compromised his plan to gain the Avengers’ trust and also injured this girl, and approached her. “I’m sorry, I—I thought you’d deflect it or dodge, I—“ _Mortals are very fragile. How pathetic. I feel bad, though, I’ve hurt her, after she was kind, and said she wanted to help me—_ His hand began to glow green. _I’ll heal her with magic._ “Here, let me—“

In an instant, the red-skinned man from earlier phased through the wall of the room and grabbed Loki by the back of his clothes, pulling him away from the girl and throwing him onto the floor.

“Vision!” the girl called out, “Stop, it’s—he’s fine, I—“ a sniffle, “I’ve got this under control, I’m fine, he—he was—oww.”

“He attacked you.”

“Yeah, no, Mr. Vision, it’s fine—he was just trying to—ahg—he wanted to see if I was enhanced—“

“I mean no harm!” Loki said, still on the floor but putting his hands up, “It was a simple experiment, I can heal her, look—“ The trickster god slowly got up from the floor and, hands still in the air, approached the girl, who, knowing that he meant to heal her bump, got up and met him halfway before Vision could stop him. She uncovered her forehead, tears still moistening her face, a bump and a bruise already starting to form where the plate had hit her. Loki touched a glowing green hand to the spot and began to heal it with magic.

In that instant, though, the girl was flung into a memory, viewed through Loki’s eyes.

_“Healing magic varies in complexity depending on the severity of the ailment you’re treating,” a woman said. She had wavy blonde hair and kind, blue eyes. She wore teal robes and had a very distinguished air about her. “Healing a simple bump on your brother’s head is the perfect starting point for you.”_

_A young boy with blonde hair and the same blue eyes as the woman sat clutching a spot on the back of his head. His face was twisted with pain but he was obviously trying very hard not to let it show._

_“Mother!” the boy yelled out, clearly frustrated._

_"A moment, Thor, my sweet, a bump on the head will not be the death of you. I'm teaching Loki how to do it.”_

_An instant later, a small, pale hand reached out, glowing green and touched the spot on the blonde boy’s head where he had been gripping it._

_“Very good, Loki. Now, Thor, what do you have to say to your brother?”_

_The blonde boy huffed, “Thank you, brother.”_

_“Very good. Run along, now, and try not to hurt yourself again.” She placed a hand on Loki’s shoulder and looked into his eyes with a very kind smile. “You did very well. I’m proud of you, my son.”_

It had all flashed by very quickly, in the space of half a second. Loki removed his hand from the girl’s forehead, her eyes wide, his own even wider, and he smiled. _She reads minds. How delicious!_

“Ah—um,” the god stammered, a little taken aback at what he was now faced with, “you—should be healed.”

“Ah—thank you. Yeah, it feels ok now...Um,” she turned towards Vision, “See?” She pointed out the spot on her head, “I’m fine, he’s fine, everything here is under control, I promise.” The android narrowed his eyes. “I appreciate you coming so fast to help, though. I really do. Thank you for that, Mr. Vision.”

After another brief moment of awkward silence, the android phased through the wall back out of the room.

“Impressive,” Loki said. “You can read minds.” The girl blushed, fidgeted with her braid, and turned her gaze down to the floor.

“Um—yeah. Sort of,” she said. “How—how do you know?”

“I felt it. When you looked into my memory, just now…when I learned to heal a bumped head, I felt you see it.”

“Oh—wait, really?” Loki nodded. “That’s…weird. Most people don’t notice. Like—they can't tell when I can see.”

“I’m not most people, darling.” He smirked. “A mind reader. How curious.”

“Well—actually, I wouldn’t call myself a mind reader… It’s more like, I can hear thoughts. Like…everything that the people around me think, I can hear it. All the thoughts that go through a person’s head, plain as if they were speaking to me. I—can’t really turn it off. It actually gets rather annoying,” she chuckled, “but I can also see people’s memories. But—only when they’re thinking of the memory, and I have to be making physical contact with them. That’s unconscious on my end, too, like hearing thoughts. So like—it makes sense that you’d think back to when you learned to heal a bump whenever you need to do it, and I just happened to see it; I wasn’t trying to intrude on your thoughts, I promise.”

“How intriguing. It must be difficult.” _It makes sense they’d have her be the one to keep an eye on me; that way they’ll know right away if I decide to plot something devious. Oh dear, she just heard that, didn’t she?_

The girl smiled, “I try not to respond to the things people don’t actually say to me out loud. I don’t want people to feel like they need to change the way they think when they’re around me—it’s just annoying. But, yeah, I did hear that, and that is the logic here. But from what I can tell, you’re no threat.”

“Well, I’m glad you think that,” the trickster god smiled. _It’s been so long since I met somebody who didn’t think me a monster. Oh god, she heard that. That’s embarrassing._

“I—I should probably be getting back. Mr. Stark will want to know how this went.” She picked up her own plate, looked down at the smashed one on the floor and frowned. “I guess I’ll have to come back with a broom and dustpan, though.”

“Oh, please, allow me,” Loki waved his hand and with a flash of green, the plate was in once piece again. He picked it up and handed it to her.

“Oh, wow! That’s—that’s impressive,” she said, taking the plate.

 _It’s really not._ “It was nothing. I broke it to begin with, after all. Also, I apologize for throwing it at your head.”

“Oh no that’s fine! I knew what you were doing. Thanks for healing my bump, by the way. I think it’s really cool that you can do magic. I’d love to see more sometime.”

“Well, perhaps when you bring my dinner later, I can show you an illusion or two.” He cracked a smile. _Mortals are so easy to impress. I love it when people are impressed with me._

“I’m looking forward to it. I’ll be seeing you.” The door slid open, she stepped through and it closed.


	4. Little Miss Telepathy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while. Sorry about that. Also it's still the same day within the story, as in the first 4 chapters of this fic all happen on the same day. Sorry about that.

            “I can’t believe you,” Tony said, pacing around the lab. “I can’t believe any of this.”

            “Mr. Stark it’s not my fault! He figured it out. What was I gonna do, lie? You know I’m terrible at that.” 

            “God, this day needs to end.”

            “Tony, it’s only 10am,” Bruce said, “And maybe this isn’t so much of a bad thing. I mean, the kid says he isn’t up to anything, and he’s done a lot of good since New York—he helped save an entire race of people from extinction, not to mention he helped Thor and me escape that garbage planet. If he hadn’t helped us get out of there, Thor wouldn’t have been around to kill Thanos, and who knows where we’d be now?” _Honestly, if we play our cards right, maybe he could even be an Avenger someday._

“Hey boss,” Friday’s computerized Irish accent chimed in “Peter Parker has arrived.”

            “Shit, of course he has,” Stark said, burying his face in his hands. “Tell him where to find me.” _I’m gonna have to actually start calling him by his name; if I just call him Kid, like I normally do, it’ll confuse him and the redhead. Little Miss Telepathy needs a real name, and I need a distraction from this shitshow of a day._ “How about Svetlana?”

            The redhead snorted, “Not as fun as Little Miss Telepathy.”

            Bruce spoke up, “You could be Bernice. I think you look like a Bernice.”

            “I don’t think I look like a Bernice.”

            “How about Stacy?” Tony asked.

            “I can’t remember my mom, so I can’t exactly say for sure whether or not she had it going on.”

            “Samantha,” Bruce suggested. “You could be Sammy for short.”

            “That’s not bad,” she said, “but it’s still not really me.”

            The two scientists threw name after name at the girl, none of them to her liking. In truth, it wasn’t that she didn’t like any of the suggestions. Really it was the case that she didn’t want to commit to a real name in case she found her real one at some point; she wouldn’t want to have to switch. Not that she had any hope of figuring anything out.

            Soon enough a Peter arrived in the lab where Tony, Bruce, and the girl were.

            “I’ve got an idea, Kid,” he said to the girl. “Peter! Listen. I gotta ask you something. Real important question. I’m talking fate of the world level shit, Kid, are you ready?”

            “O—oh, M—Mr. Stark, I—uh—sure, yeah, I’m ready, wha—what do you need me to do? I mean, what is it?”

            “That girl over there.” He pointed to her. “Her name. What does she look like she’s called?”

            “Oh, um…ah…” _What kind of question is that? That’s not fate of the world. Maybe—fuck, I dunno. She’s got red hair, so maybe…_ “I don’t know. I don’t know, Mr. Stark, maybe…I dunno, I mean—“ _Red, maybe? She’s a redhead, and she’s wearing a red shirt_. “R…red? I guess?”

            “…Red?”

            “Maybe not, I dunno, that’s not a name, never mind, I—“

            “What do you think, Kid? Not Peter Kid, other Kid. Adult Telepathy Kid.”

            She thought it over for a moment. Red. It wasn’t a name. But it was something to be called, something short and sweet, that could easily be replaced by her real name is she ever found it, and perfectly acceptable as a nickname if she wanted to keep using it even after figuring out her name, if she ever did. She smiled.

            “I like it.”

____________________

 

            All throughout the day she—Red, as she was now called, thank you very much!—was giddy as hell. What a wonderful morning she had had. She had made two new friends—a magic man and a boy who is part spider—and better yet, one of her new friends gave her a name. A perfect name. A name for her! For the first time in memory, she’d have something to say when a stranger would ask, “hey, what’s your name?” She would proudly declare, “My friends call me Red!”

            Her little world was expanding. Her pool of friends had doubled today! No longer did she only have Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner. She now had Mr. Stark, Dr. Banner, Loki, and Peter! Four friends! At this rate, she’d have to get a cell phone soon. So she could keep in contact. With her FRIENDS of which she had FOUR. Radical. Yes!

            She had a wonderful time talking and doing science in the lab with three of her FRIENDS. She had friends, who she could do science with.

Three minds in the room with her was a smidge tougher to tune out, especially since Peter’s wandering teenaged thoughts were sort of amusing at times, but practice makes perfect.

            You’d think she’d know more people by then, after a whole week of waking memory, but she had been too nervous to explore the compound and risk meeting more people and risk having to deal with them asking for her name and her not knowing what to tell them. That wasn’t a problem anymore!

            She passed people by, though, and she knew who a few of the Avengers were, but they didn’t know her.

            Mr. Stark was mad at her, but that was ok. He’d get over it. She understood that he had hard feelings toward Loki. That was valid. She’d seen the memory of what happened in New York—maybe when she took Loki his dinner she’d ask to see it from his point of view. That might be neat.

            The big question for tonight was, what would she bring Loki for dinner?

            Maybe pasta. Yeah, she was in the mood for pasta. She hoped he’d like pasta.

            She stood at the stove in the kitchenette in a common room. The pasta was boiling, it would be ready to drain soon. Colander in place in the sink ready to go, jar of sauce within reach off to the side. She had music playing—Panic! at the Disco, only band she’d discovered so far that she really liked. She was browning some ground beef in a skillet to mix in with the pasta so that it would be a little bit more substantial.

“Beefsauce,” she said quietly to herself. “Gonna make me some beefsauce. Heck to the yeah.” Her stomach made a rumbly noise. Oof, she was ready for some FOOD. Man, she was On Top Of The World right now. There was a pep in her step with everything she did.

She pulled out two big bowls, scooped the finished pasta meal into them. Nice big helpings. A fork in each bowl, two water bottles shoved under her arms, along with a canister of shredded parmesan cheese, and headed for Loki’s room.

She knocked on the door to Loki’s room with her foot and the door slid open.

“Hey!”

“Good evening,” Loki said, marking his spot in the book he was reading and setting it down on the nightstand.

“I brought dinner! Hope you’re hungry, because I sure am! Pasta with beef!” She set everything down on the desk, and picked up one of the bowls of pasta and a water bottle and gave it to him. “Like a beefaroni but I used rotini pasta instead of macaroni, because rotini is the best shape of pasta.”

 _I don’t see why shape matters, all pasta is the same. Silly girl._ “Thank you.” _She seems rather chipper. Nothing at all like she was when I first met her early this morning. But I suppose I don’t know her very well yet. Things ended pleasantly this morning but I suppose I ought to keep on my toes._ He took a bite of food. _Not bad._

“So… I’ve got good news and bad news. I guess. I mean…both affect me more than you but they also affect you, too, like a little bit, but… I dunno.”

The god furrowed his eyebrows, “Well, out with it, I suppose.”

“Well…Mr. Stark is kindof mad at me. That’s the bad news.”

“How does that affect me?” _This food is good but it’s missing something_.

“Oh, I almost forgot, do you want cheese on your pasta? It, ah…adds to the flavor. I guess.” She handed him the canister of cheese. “Just flip the top up and sprinkle it on, mix it up. Ah… so. Mr. Stark is mad at me because you know about what I can do.”

“Well it’s not your fault.” _She was right about the cheese. I like this a lot._ “I figured it out on my own. And that still doesn’t really affect me.” 

“Well but,” she took a bite of food and spoke with her mouth full of cheesey beefaroni, “see, he won’t fully admit it, but he’s all kinds of scared that you’re gonna kill me or some shit, or manipulate me into helping you do something bad, and he’s mad that I actually _admitted_ that I could do what I can do.” She swallowed. “He won’t say it out loud but obviously I know what he’s thinking. He’s been pretty vocal so far about not believing me when I say that you’re no threat, thinks about how you’re manipulative as hell, and then he finds out you were sly enough to figure me out?” She took another bite. “Doesn’t bode well for that secret plan you have where you win the avengers’ trust and they let you live here. Fuck, I love pasta.”

“Yes, I can see that.” _Talking with her mouthful. Gross. She’s certainly no fair maiden, and she’s certainly has grown comfortable with me very quickly. I don’t trust that._ The girl rolled her eyes. “My secret plan?” he snorted. “I have no such thing.”

“Sure ya do. When I asked you if you had any sort of a hidden agenda, that’s what went through your mind. It was—um, some shit about being super weary of having to be dark and brooding and hiding all the time, I think? You thought it’d never work out, though. But—I want to help you.” She flashed him a very warm smile. “I’m gonna work on Mr. Stark, try to see if I can’t get him to give you a little more freedom eventually, because right now, straight up, you’re a prisoner in a really nice cell. It’s my goal to elevate you to houseguest status, then maybe—“

“Why do you seem to care so much?” _This is wrong. I’m a monster, I’ve done terrible things, why has she grown so attached so quickly?_

She lowered her fork and fidgeted with her braid.

“I—um. I dunno. I guess…you don’t really have anybody. At least, not anymore, from what I can tell, from your thoughts. And well…I don’t have any of the people from my past, either. In my waking memory, I’ve interacted with, like, 8 people. The operator on the payphone that connected me to the Avengers, the secretary who answered for the Avengers, the driver who picked me up to bring me here, Mr. Stark, Dr. Banner, Miss Potts who I met once, you, Mr. Vision this morning, and this kid named Peter who I also met today. Actually that’s 9. 10, if you count when I brushed shoulders with Captain Rogers three days ago and he said ‘sorry, excuse me.’ I’m at double digits. I’ve really only had much conversation with Stark, Banner, you, and Peter.

“I guess, since I don’t know a lot of people, I can grow attached pretty quickly, even though I know that I probably shouldn’t be so quick to trust new people. You, though—I guess I relate to in a way. You have nobody. I have almost nobody. You’re trapped here. I can technically leave if I want, but I’m too afraid to. You seem like you’re trying to forget your past and start over. I’m starting over, too.” She smiled at him. “Plus, you seem like you could use a friend.”

 _She feels she relates to me. I’m insulted. A mere mortal sympathizing with my plight? Does she think me to be as pathetic as her? I_ wish _I could forget my past the way she’s forgotten her own._ He opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off.

“I—I think I’m gonna go,” she said, looking very uncomfortable. “You can have the rest of my pasta, I’m not so hungry.” She stood and started towards the door.

 _Oh dear, she’s upset._ “Wait, you didn’t tell me the good news.”

“Oh…um. I’ve got a name.”

“Brilliant,” he stood up and smiled. _Be nice, Loki, she can hear what you’re thinking and she’s the one who brings you food. She wants to be your friend. What a mess._ “What are you called?”

“Red,” she told him. “You…can call me Red.”

“Oh,” _because of her hair. Seems silly. But it suits her, I suppose._ He smiled, “Well, Red, my dear, thank you for the—“

The door slid shut.

____________________

 

Loki was readying to sleep for the evening, unhappy with how things left off with Red, but figuring she’d get over it, but also not really caring because he finally had a real bed again, and it was going to feel so nice to have a decent night’s sleep at long last. He slipped off his boots—not sure why he had even left them on all day, locked in this room—and took off his shirt. He turned the lights off, situated himself under the blanket, head on the pillow, and closed his eyes. He was the most comfortable he’d been in quite some time.

 Not five minutes after crawling in for the night, the door to his room slid open with no warning, and the light was on, Tony Stark standing in the doorway.

 “Oh don’t tell me you were sleeping already,” he said, the door sliding shut behind him. He folded his arms and leaned back against the wall.

 “Well, not yet, but an attempt was being made,” the trickster god said, sitting up in bed. “It’s not like I have much else to do to occupy my time in here. To what do I owe the pleasure, Mr. Stark?”

 “I’ll keep this short and sweet. Red says you’re not up to anything bad. I—“

“You don’t believe her, yes, I am aware, but for the umpteenth time, Stark, I assure you—”

 “Nah-ah,” He held a finger up “No. You don’t interrupt me. Ok?” The god nodded. “Ok. Well. I just want to make something clear to you: I do not trust you. I won’t trust you. I don’t think I could trust you if you saved my life or that of my fiancée and potential future children. Do you know why?”

 “Because I threw you out a window?” Loki ran a hand through his hair. He just wanted to sleep.

 “Yeah. Among other things, yes. Now, Red personally volunteered to be responsible to bring your meals to you, for god only knows what reason.”

 “Is it not because her telepathic abilities would alert her in the event of my plotting something?”

“What did I say about interrupting? But yeah, that’s part of it, and I absolutely fucking hate that you know about it. You weren’t supposed to know about it.” The billionaire sighed. “The other thing that I’d like to make clear is this: You don’t lay a finger on that girl. Got it? One extremely orange hair out of place on that head, and you’re not gonna like what’s happens next. We’re being very nice to you right now. You’ve got a bed. Books, television. A shower. You fuck up and that’s all gone. You’re a convicted mass murderer. You’re getting, like, tax evasion treatment. You hear me, Severus Snape?”

 “Loud and clear.”

 “Good. y’know, You’ve actually got Red to thank for that; it’s because of her and what she’s told us about you that we’ve made the decision _not_ to have you hauled off to a high security basement in Germany where we threw the last terrorist we caught alive. I got out-voted on that one.”

 “Well, I’ll be sure to thank her at breakfast.”

 “Whatever. I got shit to do. Catch ya later, dickhole.”

 Stark left the room, and finally, Loki could sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm still getting the hang of this website so i'm sorry that this chapter starts out with indents and loses them halfway through idk how to fix it i'm just a tired hungry college kid


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